Who are Church Recorders?

Members of NADFAS who have an interest in preserving important artefacts and providing archival material for future researchers. They are not necessarily experts in any particular subject but are willing to learn and increase their expertise.

What is Church Recording?

Church Recorders set out to discover and document forgotten and hidden. heritage in churches which are under threat from break-ins and theft, lack of awareness of what they possess, and  lack of money to care for what they own .

For the past 30 years Church Recorders have been helping to deal with at least some of these problems, so far in over 1000 churches.
When the Church Record is completed, five copies are lodged with:

• the church
• the diocesan or other local archives
• Church Buildings Council
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• National Monuments Record Centre

Who benefits?

• the church authorities who have a complete furnishing record
• the police who use our accurate description and photographs to identify retrieved stolen artefacts
• Insurance companies who use our Records to identify items
• Researchers who are producing theses and books on allied subjects
• Our volunteers who make friends and have a lot of fun!!

At the present time four societies in the Greater London Area are involved in Church Recording. Two of the churches are in great contrast to one another. One, in North London, is a small Georgian church designed by Thomas Hardwick as a chapel-of-ease to the parish church of St Marylebone.

Decorated in white and gold with galleries above the nave and box pews painted white, it is a focal point for both worship and community activities.

The other church is on the south-east edge of London and dates from Norman times.  Over the years it has been altered and extended, mainly during the nineteenth century when six Archbishops of Canterbury lived in Addington Palace and therefore treated it as their Parish Church. It is small in size but full of history. Its most notable feature is the wonderfully stencilled chancel walls.

The Friends of Essex Churches is a charity involved in the preservation of churches and chapels of all denominations, in East London as well as
Essex. Last year they awarded grants to the value of nearly £200,000.

for more information contact www.foect.org.uk, or the hon.secretary on keith@thegreenwood.me.uk

Additional information

National NADFAS Church Recorders

Contact: churchrecorder@nadfasgla.org.uk